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Then, another relay truck took him to Northampton services - and left him there for three hours. A third AA man arrived and took him to Leicester Forest East Services - and left him there for another three hours.

Finally, a fourth relay vehicle picked him up and brought him back to Derbyshire, where he arrived at 7pm.

Steve, 64, who suffers from health issues, said of his night spent on the service area: “It was really, really frustrating. I couldn’t even go to sleep because I had to keep an ear out for a phone call telling me when I could go home. I was absolutely shattered.

“Accommodation wasn’t even mentioned by anyone at the time. I’m a bit annoyed to be honest as I have asthma so it could have been a lot worse.”

The AA were very apologetic and have promised that they will do better. (Image: Steve Bowley)

The AA has apologised and offered Steve a cash sum of £300, along with a year’s extension on his current insurance plan, which he declined as he feels the inconvenience is worth £1,000.

He said after the breakdown, he immediately phoned his garage to get his van fixed the next day, but because he did not arrive home until so late, it was unable to be fixed quickly, and he lost £600 due to it being off the road.

Steve is a self-employed owner of a market stall that sells duvet sets, fitted sheets and towels.

He was on his way back to Ilkeston from a market in Folkestone on Monday (May 28) when he hit the problem.

He said he felt something wrong with the gear box and pulled on to an area of chevrons.

“I checked under the van but I couldn’t see anything so I got back in to try and move it to the hard shoulder, but it wouldn’t move.

“I called the AA at 8.55pm - they said they’d send someone out and they picked me and my van up and got me to Toddington services at around 1.20am.

“They told me there’d be a car to take me home in ten minutes, but at half past one I rang them and they told me that it would actually arrive at 3.30am.

“Then at 3.30am I rang and was told it would be at 5am. Then at 5am I rang and was told it would be at 8.30am.

“At 10am, after being there for around nine hours, I was taken to Northampton Services with my van.

“Three hours after that, I was taken to Leicester Forest East Services, and three and a quarter hours after that I was brought home in my van.”

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Steve says he finally got home at around 7pm the next day, 22 hours after he first reported the problem to the AA.

“I think I’ve easily lost around £600 because my van wasn’t fixed in time and I couldn’t work for three days,” he said.

Steve's inhaler that he uses to combat his asthma. (Image: Steve Bowley)

A spokesperson for the AA said: "I’m very sorry to hear of Mr Bowley’s recent breakdown experience, which fell well short of his and indeed our expectations.

"Although I appreciate this will be of no consolation to Mr Bowley, we attend on average 10,000 breakdowns a day and by far the majority of our members are very happy with the service they receive. I’m sorry we didn’t meet our usual high standards in this instance.

"Mr Bowley called us to report his breakdown at 20:55 on Monday (28 May). As it was a large vehicle with a gearbox fault which would not be repairable at the roadside, and had also broken down on a motorway, a flatbed recovery truck was needed to move Mr Bowley and his vehicle to a place of safety.

"Due to the heavy workload on the bank holiday Monday, our recovery driver reached Mr Bowley just over two hours later at 23:15 and took him to Toddington services.

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"Onward recovery was requested but unfortunately the attending garage agent partner was unable to arrive until the following morning. We should have offered Mr Bowley accommodation overnight or alternative transportation, such as a taxi home and his van to be recovered separately, and I’m sorry that this didn’t happen on this occasion.

"After being attended through further recovery legs, Mr Bowley arrived home with his vehicle at 19:24 on Tuesday (29 May).

"We did our best to keep Mr Bowley up to date throughout this time and, under his policy, he was offered and accepted a total of £75 for food and refreshments during his wait.

"He was also offered compensation for his delay and 12 months membership as a gesture of goodwill, which he has declined. Our customer services team are in contact with Mr Bowley directly to try to resolve the issue with him.

"Please rest assured that we are carrying out a full investigation. There are lessons we will learn from this and the feedback will be used to ensure this does not happen in future, and ultimately improve our service.

"Unfortunately Mr Bowley did not disclose that he suffers with any illness. Although he does not have the option on his membership policy, we should have offered overnight accommodation given the delay.

"I apologise once again for the poor service he received, which is highly unusual. I hope we will ultimately be able to restore his faith in the AA."